Flint gets fed money to plant more trees at Chevy in the Hole

Workers dig a hole to plant a tree in April 2012 at Chevy in the Hole in Flint on Friday. More than a thousand trees are being planted at the site for the purpose of bio-remediation.MLive File Photo

FLINT, MI -- Clean up and restoration of Flint's Chevy in the Hole is getting a $400,000 boost from the U.S. Department of Forest Service.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, announced the grant Thursday, Nov. 7. The grant will help Flint continue planting trees at the site to remove contaminants from the area, which is adjacent to the Flint River.

The $400,000 in federal funding is part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a collaborative effort among multiple federal agencies to rehabilitate and restore the Great Lakes.

“Cleaning up the Chevy in the Hole is critical to the revitalization of the brownfield site and economic development in Flint,” said Stabenow in a written statement. “This partnership with the U.S. Forest Service will help the community continue its tree-planting initiative to remove contaminants from the ground and conserve the Flint River for years to come.”

The city has received other grants to help with clean up and restoration of the contaminated property, a former GM site that was home to Flint’s first Buick factory.

“The city of Flint would like to express its gratitude for the continued support from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative,” said Flint Mayor Dayne Walling in a written statement. “Greening the former Chevrolet sites along the Flint River is a key step in improving the ecology in the watershed and protecting the Great Lakes ecosystem. The city's new master plan for a sustainable Flint calls for the brownfield sites to be recycled as part of a comprehensive blue-green infrastructure system along the river.”